September 5 & 6th:
The last time I came up north to see Denali, there was no sign of her from
the ground, so I went flightseeing for the view. With clear skies predicted,
I hoped to get a good view this time without having to sprout wings, and
I was not disappointed. It was a very pleasant overnight camping trip with
my dog, Jascha and my traveling cat, Angel. All the small pix have links
to larger versions with better resolution. Also see images from the following
week in the links below the collage.

September 19th:
Some old friends from Fairbanks, currently living in Iowa, contacted me
to say that they were going to be stopping over in Whittier on a long cruise
to the Far East. Since they had several hours and the weather was inexplicaply
nice-- that's rarely the case in Whittier-- I took them up the Portage Pass
Trail nearby. We took along some snacks and also enjoyed the berry bounty
provided by Mother Nature. It was great to catch up with their activities
as we chatted along the way. It was a lovely hike in beautiful conditions
with delightful companions. Click the thumbnails and other links to see
them bigger.